As artificial intelligence increasingly generates texts, images, arguments, and interpretations, questions arise not only about technology but also about the future of intellectual life. What does it mean to be an intellectual in an age when information is instantly available and machines can perform tasks once associated with human creativity and expertise?

This seminar argues that intellectuals are defined not simply by the possession of knowledge but by the cultivation of curiosity, critical thinking, imagination, reflection, and the ability to engage with complexity. These capacities develop through inquiry, dialogue, and what educational theorists describe as productive struggle—learning through effort, uncertainty, revision, and perseverance. Yet many educators report a growing lack of intellectual confidence among students: the willingness to ask difficult questions, defend original ideas, embrace ambiguity, and persist through failure. Drawing on the work of Hannah Arendt, Antonio Gramsci, Edward Said, Paulo Freire, and contemporary scholarship on AI and education, the seminar examines how intellectual authority, creativity, and public responsibility are being reshaped by algorithmic cultures. As AI systems increasingly provide ready-made answers and interpretations, learners risk becoming consumers rather than producers of knowledge. The challenge, therefore, is not simply how to use AI, but how to cultivate independent thinkers capable of critical and ethical judgment. Particular attention will be given to pedagogical practices that foster intellectual confidence and creativity, including inquiry-based learning, reflective writing, engagement with challenging texts, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and classroom environments that normalize intellectual risk-taking and failure as part of growth. These practices encourage intellectual resilience, autonomy, and the confidence to contribute original perspectives. Ultimately, the seminar contends that the greatest challenge of the AI age may not be artificial intelligence itself, but the preservation of distinctly human capacities for reflection, imagination, ethical reasoning, creativity, and independent judgment. We invite scholars across disciplines to bring their unique perspectives to explore how education, literary studies, and the humanities can help cultivate future intellectuals capable of questioning, imagining, creating, and leading in an increasingly AI-driven world. 

Please submit your presentation abstract on the ACLA website, and e-mail a short bio with institutional affiliation and scholarly background to [email protected] and [email protected]